Hebei University , one of China 's most comprehensive universities, which is situated in Shijiazhuang , has employed me this September of 2005 to begin teaching English at Hebei 's University for the Nationalities. Shijiazhuang is the capital of Hebei Province and is within easy access of Beijing . The nearest cities to the Hebei University are Chong Qing, Wu Han, and Zhang Jiqjie. Hebei Province is one of the birthplaces of the Chinese nation. I am more than ecstatic over this unique opportunity to teach conversational English to non-native speaking students at the university. The climate in Hebei Province is 30 c. in the summer and 10c during the winter months.

There are so many cultural opportunities which exist for the English speaking traveler who wishes to teach and travel abroad, using their commodity as being a native English speaker as a humanitarian and richly fulfilling ways in which to serve society at large. If one's native tongue is English and if one was born in the United States , the United Kingdom , Ireland , New Zealand , Canada , South Africa or Australia , they can teach overseas in many foreign countries. I have chosen to teach in China , Japan , Taiwan , South Africa or South Korea , with China being the first to call me to duty. Yes, I am serving my country linguistically. This notion alone is absurdly thrilling to me, and leaves me cold and dry with eager anticipation to culturally mix with the under belly red nation, (the newest WTO member and developing super stars of society next door).

It is noted that Hebei University is one of the most comprehensive universities in all of China . Hebei University offers a variety of courses covering a wide range of fields, including Philosophy, Economics, Law, Education, Literature, History, Science and Technology, Engineering, Medicine and Management.

For the Chinese novice or for persons desiring factoids on Hebei University , the 15 colleges offer 56 specialized undergraduate courses leading to bachelor's degrees. The university can also award master’s degrees in forty-four subjects and doctorates in six fields. Ten of the specialized subjects and two of Hebei 's laboratories are at the provincial-appointed level. Chinese Language & Literature and History are appointed as the bases for research and cultivation of talents in liberal parts by the province. This is what I have decided to leave my homeland for - this special and rich cross-cultural 'top 10' university in China 's Hebei Province .

At current my teaching resume reads that I am a....

Discovering ESL Teacher and Writer of English with an international interest in developing nations. Wide interest in traveling and in studying abroad with a total language immersion opportunity.

Interest in teaching in Japan on a 6-month working holiday visa.

Searching for a unique Multi-Lingual/Cross-Cultural teaching opportunity with a focus on Japan and Taiwan .

Immediate Interest in Teaching Conversational English to non-native speaking students overseas by traveling/teaching in countries such as Japan and Taiwan with considerations for China and South Korea. Looking for a position where proficiencies demonstrated will be in linguistics, second language acquisition, language pedagogy, methodology, materials development, testing and research, curriculum and syllabus design, program administration, and cross-cultural communication.

I wish I had received this calling years ago. By now I could have been rubbing distinguished elbows with the likes of Christiane Amanpour or Brian Williams. (Not to mention my MSNBC's most admired Chris Matthews, Keith Olbermann, Rita Cosby, and Joe Scarborough). There’s so many culturally responsible foreign correspondents that one needs much cable prodding in order to keep up with all of the travel journalists, citizen bloggers, and web crawlers invading all of our favorite information hubs and global airways.

Within days I will have obtained my Foreign Expert Certificate and Chinese Work Visa, and with the assistance of the Chinese Consulate and Embassy, I will become a regular 'citizen' of the Hebei University Foreign Teaching Staff.

In the past I thought that perhaps I'd become a relief worker, or I'd join the peace corps, become a UN ambassador to causes, to people, and to someone else's way of life. This has always been of extreme curiosity to me, loving the fullness and the thickness of the multi-cultural, cross-blending global society in which we all reside.

I had attended the Third World Conference, a 2-day global conference sponsored by Governors State University , where I wrote the following thesis,

'The Chinese: Cultural Root of Harmony and The Global Experiences in Multi-Cultural Learning'.

Also at Governors State University , I relished in my first Asian studies foreign speaking course, Chinese Language and Culture I, for which I will return for the second and third installments later in 2006 or 2007. I will be taking a few of GSU's online courses while living in Hebei , and will be attending Hebei 's regular Mandarin Chinese language courses during the week and in between my teaching hours. (I plan on taking full opportunity of Hebei 's class schedule with my interest also piquing in a Masters in Linguistics from the University of New England ).

I offered the above piece of writing on Chinese history and culture, which concerned a wide array of socially political concepts involving the environment, race relations, world religions, and world salvation, (all with an all comprising globally respectable point of reference). Often times, I still find myself indifferent to the recent G-8 summit and conferences, at least the aftermath concerning the turn of events which followed the G-8 made me ponder the idea of joining the Franciscan Sisterhood of Nuns. (If only to juxtaposition myself to some realness or trueness of society and give of myself to some Godly greater good instead of the global greed-bath and massive miss-management in which I'm forced to witness in my daily life.

Will I miss the American style of living and the current unraveling of my way of life? I think not. Of course I'll miss my family and the deeply rooted friendships with those in the states. I will truly miss one individual in particular, but just as I have faith in the greater good that is inherently true to the core of this planet, I do share that same faith that my friend to which I care for deeply will be awaiting for my return back home.

(In completion of the factoids on China 's Hebei Province ), Hebei University is one of the top universities within Hebei Province . It is situated in Baoding , a city with a long history and rich cultural heritage in China , within easy access of Beijing . Hebei University was founded in Tianjin in 1921. Since its foundation, Hebei University has undergone successive changes in its name. It used to be Tianjin Industrial & Commercial Institute; it later became Jingu College , then Tianjin Normal School , and Tianjin Normal University for a while. In 1960, it was transformed in to a comprehensive university with its current name Hebei University . Then in 1970, it was moved to Baoding .

In final, I will be leaving for Hebei at or around October 19th, and I should be returning sometime during June 2006. I will try very hard to adhere to my calling and pursue another teaching post immediately after Hebei . And I will be adding to my duties of Foreign Teacher the inevitable assignment of being a travel journalist.

Gia Lovelady-JohnsonForeign TeacherShanghai, Chicago, Dallas

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